Down Through the Pages: A selection of the best in Historical Fiction
The Encyclopaedia Britannica defines a historical novel as “a novel that has as its setting a period of history and that attempts to convey the spirit, manners, and social conditions of a past age with realistic detail and fidelity (which is in some cases only apparent fidelity) to historical fact”. The Historical Novel Society’s unofficial rules state that authors should portray the time period as accurately as possible and that the fiction and the history should be well balanced, with neither one overwhelming the other. Alessandro Manzoni said that the historical novelist is required to give ‘not just the bare bones of history, but something richer, more complete. In a way you want him to put the flesh back on the skeleton that is history’. The author Sarah Dunant describes historical fiction as a form of time travel in which, if the novelist has done the research, writer and reader can create a fiercely imaginative and challenging experience.
The genre features a diverse range of subgenres including medieval mysteries, regency romances, literary thrillers, nautical adventures, westerns, family sagas, multiperiod epics and many others and therefore should contain something to cater for everyone’s taste.
The 31 novels featured here represent the best of the
genre. Ranging from the Stone Age, through ancient Greece and Rome, Medieval
and Renaissance times up until the mid 19th century, this collection of
historical fiction should appeal to all those devout fans out there as
well as encouraging those as yet unfamiliar with the genre to try something
new. Allow these novels to transport you back in time to “put the
flesh back on the skeleton that is history”.
